Shadow Wars
by thedarkpoet91
Summary: 200 years have passed since the fall of Galbatorix. The world has nearly forgotten the disaster that befell Alagaesia. However, the days of peace are brought to an end when a converging of dark magic causes a black tower to form off the west coast of Alagaesia. What nightmares await the land of Alagaesia from this tower? And what will the new young riders do to stop it?
1. The Tower

The Tower

The pain was too great for her to bear; she struggled against her restraints and screamed at the ceiling, but she could not escape her torment, not then and not for a seemingly endless span of time thereafter. The iron had hurt more, but she would have preferred its touch, for the hot metal was impersonal, inanimate, and predictable, all things the burrow grub was not. There was a special horror in knowing that the cause of her pain was a creature _chewing _on her, and worse, that it was inside her.

At the last, she lost her pride and self-control and cried out to the goddess Gokukara for mercy, and then she began to babble as a child might, unable to stop the flow of random words coming from her mouth.

And behind her, she heard Galbatorix laughing, and his enjoyment of her suffering made her hate him all the more…..

The sudden touch of someone against her caused Nasuada to panic as she drew Rak from its scabbard and swung it at whomever it was, only to have a hand grab hold of her wrist and pull her into an embrace.

"Nasuada, calm down." Murtagh held her close as he guided her hand gently towards her side. "It's only me." He smiled gently down at Nasuada as she took deep breaths to try and calm down, but the pain Galbatorix had inflicted on her was something she hadn't recovered from over the past two centuries, he couldn't expect her to just get over it now.

"I'm so sorry Murtagh, I—"

"It's alright. What Galbatorix and I did…." His voice trailed off as he recalled what nightmarish things she had gone through at his own hands.

"My love," Nausada placed her hand gently upon his cheek. "I know that you were forced to do those things. And it wasn't the burning that has scarred me so." She looked down at her arms to see only the scars from her duel long ago. "It was the burrow grubs." Murtagh's face contorted in a painful understanding as he recalled that having been used on him to force him to swear loyalty to Galbatorix.

The two turned back to the balcony to watch the sun set over the peaceful word they had won alongside Eragon, Arya and the others. Murtagh embraced Nasuada as the two watched Thorn and Arlana fly over the ocean. Their dragons had grown accustomed to spending time with one another just as their riders did.

"It's wonderful that we were able to leave Surda for a time." Nasuada said as she leaned against Murtagh's chest finally calming from her episode.

"Yes. The western coast in winter is surprisingly refreshing." He clasped her hands within his as he had done many times at the palace. "I'm still surprised that you turned out to be a rider."

"Even after one hundred and eighty years?"

"Is it really that shocking to you? Galbatorix's army had tried countless numbers of times to hatch Saphira, Thorn and Fìrnen. Then, twenty years after Galbatorix's defeat, Arya walks up asks if you would go along with her and Ismira to meet Eragon and see if you two can become dragon riders." Murtagh chuckles. "And you both do!" He sighs as he holds Nasuada close. "But I'm glad you did. I love having you in my life."

"What's gotten into you Murtagh?" Nasuada turns to him. "You're never this affectionate."

"Well, a man should be affectionate to his wife every day, but even more so on their anniversary." Murtagh pulled out a necklace from the pouch at his side. The stone that made the centerpiece of the necklace swirled with magical energies. Nasuada looked at the necklace in disbelief as Murtagh put it around her neck.

"You remembered?" Murtagh shrugged.

"Not really, Arya has been reminding me every day for the last month." He chuckles.

"She's a good friend."

"That she is." The two turned back to see the final glimmer of sunlight when suddenly a cloud of black smoke rose up over the ocean.

"Murtagh."

"I know; something is definitely wrong." They both shuddered as a cold wind blew past them in a great rush. The dark smoke twisted and grew and started to take shape as the two leapt from the balcony onto the backs of their dragons. The smoke finally finished its ascent into the sky by becoming a solid black tower. As Murtagh and Nasuada watched on, a shriek unlike anything they had heard since the war with Galbatorix rang out…


	2. The Firsts

The Firsts

Miridia looked at herself in the mirror as she brushed her hair for the second time that morning. She felt uncomfortable if she ever managed to fail to look her best. "As a daughter King Margon, leader of the dwarves, I must maintain some level of appearances." She said to herself as she finished and dusted off her purple combat dress that her maids had sewn before she left.

_Little one, I don't know why you waste so much of your time on appearance._

_ Don't give me that Ferith. You groom yourself longer than I do trying to get Saphira Elda to pay attention to you._ She felt her dragon's embarrassment through their link. The two of them had managed to hit it off since Ferith's birth and their bond was one of the closest out of the four students under Eragon and Arya's teaching.

_Touche little one. Your tongue is still as sharp as ever._

_ Sometimes I think it's a little TOO sharp._

_ We should best be going now little one._

_ You're right Ferith, we can't keep Arya Elda waiting._ With that, the two stopped speaking and Miridia walked out into the sunlight that fell upon the land Eragon had named Regalia. This was the new home of the dragons, even if there were only six that lived on the island nation.

Miridia strut across the field without batting an eye at the boys training in combat with Eragon. She honestly hated fighting and was thankful for Arya Elda's decision to train her privately.

"You're late Miridia!" Arya called out.

"Sorry Arya Elda, I had some trouble with my hair this morning."

"I keep telling you to use the spell I taught you." Arya looked down at the dwarven girl who was shaking her head gently.

"That's just foolish. As a daughter to the leader of dwarves, I will not allow myself to use my magic for something as mundane and easy to take care of on my own as my hair style." Miridia stomped her foot to emphasize her point.

"You really are a stubborn dwarf."

"As you say Arya Elda, but I will not let my upbringing or behaviors change too drastically just because I'm a rider. I have told you that many times."

"And I told you that as long as it didn't interfere with your studies I wouldn't mind, but you were ten minutes late today and fifteen late yesterday!"

"At least I'm getting better at being punctual." Arya ran her hand through her hair, the ring on her left hand signifying her union to Eragon sparkling in the sun. "I'm really jealous of you and Eragon Elda." Miridia said quietly.

"Love IS something special Miridia, but don't rush it." Arya laughs. "It took me some time to fall for Eragon. You'll find someone who can put up with your stubbornness, like Ulruc."

"The only reason that Urgal puts up with me is I'm the only one that doesn't rub him the wrong way. We're both the least magically adept so we have to prove ourselves elsewhere."

"Speaking of magic." Arya swiftly changed subjects. "Do you remember yesterday's lesson?"

"Opening my mind to the world around me, I remember." Miridia said begrudgingly. This was the lesson she'd been stuck on for five days now. It was the one she couldn't grasp at all.

"Then you know what to do." Arya turned and headed over towards where the boys were sparring.

Miridia sat down and closed her eyes. At first she focused on her breathing, but slowly started to reach out to the things around her. She could feel the birds in the trees, the spider behind her, and the praying mantis off by the flowers watching the butterfly. She could take all this in, but Arya kept telling her it wasn't enough. Suddenly she felt another presence approach.

"Hey tiny." Ulruc spoke to her. He was the first Urgal rider just as she was the first dwarven rider. They both were uncomfortable with each other, but managed to get along somehow.

"Ulruc, can't you see I'm training?"

"Right." He stopped speaking and sat beside her. He closed his eyes and mimicked what she was doing. "The world around us is amazing ain't it?" Ulruc asked Miridia and broke her concentration again.

"Yes, but I can't focus if it's not quiet. I'm trying to figure out what I'm missing."

"I see." Ulruc went quiet for some time and she thought he may have fallen asleep til he spoke a few minutes later. "I'm glad the trees are doing well."

"The trees?" Miridia opened her eyes and turned to her friend. She had met Urgal's before Ulruc because of her position so she knew that he was small for their size, but she also knew that she was tall for a dwarf and a lot more feminine that most of the women. "Why bring them up? They're over by the sparring field?"

"You couldn't feel em?" Ulruc tilted his head. "Eragon had me do this same thing to help me get more in tune with my magics." Ulruc smiled. "If you relax even more, you can feel the plants energies as well." Ulruc smiled as Miridia gawked at him.

"That's what Arya meant when she said I was close." Miridia closed her eyes and tried relaxing more and spreading her conscious as thin as possible. Slowly she started feeling some things in the area that she hadn't felt before. She realized the butterfly was already being closed in on by a venus fly trap. It was amazing to her all the new things she was feeling. But she sensed something above them with incredible power hurtling towards them at a great speed.

"Watch out!" Ulruc cried as he scooped up Miridia in his arms and bounded across the field. Suddenly, a bright red blur crashed into the ground where they were standing. As the dust settled the two realized who lay before them.

"Thorn? Murtagh? What are you two doing here?"


	3. The Dark Riders

The Dark Riders

Miridia began running towards Murtagh and Thorn as quickly as her feet could carry her. _Ferith, call the others. Murtagh is here and he's hurt._

_ Of course._ A roar rang out over the island and without delay the other riders flew towards the field where Miridia and Ulruc were trying to heal Murtagh and Thorn.

"What's going on?" Arya was the first to speak as she leapt off of Firnen. "Why did—" She immediately stopped speaking as she noticed the two bodies and rushed over to heal them. "Eragon, Murtagh needs healing." Arya placed her hands upon Thorn and started healing him.

"On it." Eragon focused on healing his half-brother while the four pupils and their dragons walked away.

"So, what were you doing while we were training with Eragon Elda, Miridia?" Sahlin, the elven rider of their group asked without showing real interest.

"I was embracing the world and feeling it move around me." Miridia replied, carefully constructing her sentence so as to make it seem grander than it was. "How was combat training?"

"Put simply, it was a bore until Eragon had all three of us fight him at one time."

"He got his butt handed to him by Ulruc twice and then asked for a real challenge." Horth interjected. "Apparently, losing to the strategy of charging into a range that a bow and arrow is useless isn't exciting enough for him." He coughed as he finished.

"Horth, is your illness acting up? Do you need to rest?"

"No. We didn't use magic. I'm just recovering from the punch Ulruc landed on my side." Horth chuckled and Ulruc merely stared out into the distance. Miridia could tell his mind was on something else.

"What's up big guy?"

"Murtagh and Thorn are incredibly strong and they have incredible power." He spoke on the subject they all were avoiding. "What could bring them down?"

"Why me of course." Came a voice that was smooth as silk, but almost as poisonous as one of the Arlevan scorpions down at the river. "My my, young dragon riders all walking around without keeping themselves protected." A man stepped out of the shadow of a tree and faced the four.

The man was unlike anything they had seen before. His right arm looked metallic but was a sleek black that reminded the children of the shadow spell Arya used to stop their infighting. His left eye was made of the same material. His hair was black with streaks of crimson in it. His skin was paler than most and his normal eye had a haze over it that screamed of possession. He wore an all-black cloak that kept the teens from seeing what kind of armor he was wearing. He looked almost like a Shade, but at the same time didn't.

"Who are you?" Sahlin spoke first. "And how dare you act as if we are mere children? Do you know what a dragon rider is capable of?"

"Yes." The man grinned and Miridia could feel the malice aimed at them. "The riders were capable of great things. Enslaving people, freeing them, and bringing about the death of our gods!" His voice echoed with power as he finished.

"Your gods?" Horth asked while tilting his head. Suddenly, a blur of black zipped past the kids and took its place behind the man.

"THIS," the man gestured to the lethrblaka behind him. "Was the image of our gods!"

"That's a lethrblaka!" Sahlin cried out. "They died off centuries ago at the hands of Eragon Elda. How is that one alive?"

"It's alive because WE willed them back into existence. We the worshippers of these great beings, with the help of a Shruika's Eldunari, discovered the secret to keeping our sanity whilst hosting spirits. And we used the power we gained to not only restore our physical forms, but to revive the Lethrblaka and Ra'zac to aid us in our conquering of Alagaesia."

"You mean you PURPOSELY became a Shade?"

"No. We are not Shades." The man's laugh sent shivers down the spines of the group. "WE are now the rulers of Alagaesia. WE are the power that will shape the world. WE are the most powerful beings in the world! WE ARE THE DARK RIDERS!" His voice resounded across the field and overwhelmed the teens with magic. "And these, our gods, are our mounts."


	4. Left Behind

Left Behind

"The lethrblaka are your mounts?" Miridia exclaimed in shock. _Ferith, be ready, the lethrblaka are dangerous, even Saphira had trouble with them. If they are TRULY bonded like we are that will make them more so._

_ Of course little one._ The dragon lowered his frost blue head to her side.

"I wouldn't move too much young rider." The man spoke to Miridia. "The lethrblaka are incredibly aggressive, even slight movements can be considered a challenge."

"What do you want?" Ulruc finally spoke. His ash grey dragon watching him closely.

"I want the red rider. He must have landed somewhere near here."

"I'm right here." Murtagh's voice came from behind them.

"Ah, and there you are." The man reached behind his back and pulled out a cylinder. However, as soon as he infused it with magic, it turned into a jet black trident. "Shall we finish this?"

"I think we should." Arya suddenly appeared to the left of the man; Tamerlein's blade pressed against his throat.

"Ah, the former queen of the elves is here too? Does that mean?" He slowly turned to his right and everyone stopped to see Eragon and Saphira landing. "So this is where you were hiding!" The man laughed. "The slayer of our gods." Eragon's eyes lit up at the sight of the man.

"You were one of the priests at Helgrind!"

"Glad to see you remember my people at least. However, I was not there when they rightfully captured you to offer you to Galbatorix and our gods. I joined the dark riders after they formed and offered my limbs to revive the lethrblaka and join them as the gods of this world."

"Who are you? And why have you come here?" Eragon asked while the young riders watched in awe as Eragon, Murtagh and Arya tried to break into the mind of this man. They could feel the energy attacking him, but saw no reaction from him.

"My name? I am Rexus, member of the council to the dark riders. I am here to kill the red rider as instructed. However, it seems I must take my leave. Seven dragon riders against one dark rider isn't much of a fight." He snickered as he looked at the four riders who were watching. "You may need more men." He laughed as a dark aura burst forth from him and pushed the group away. He leapt onto his lethrblaka and the two vanished into the sky.

"Well that was…..interesting." Horth said as if it was nothing major.

"Horth, he wasn't lying. He just rode off on a lethrblaka. There is something going on back home!" Miridia screamed at him. "Murtagh, I know you're hurting, but what's going on back in Alagaesia?"

"To tell you the truth we don't know much either. Everything happened so fast that none of us back home could have stopped it."

"What of Ismira and Nasuada?" Arya asked as she eased Murtagh onto the ground.

"I'll explain it all just give me a minute." He took some deep breaths. "A few days ago a black tower rose off the west coast of Alagaesia. If Nasuada and I hadn't been there, the dark riders may have taken over all of our home." Murtagh turned to his two friends. "Nasuada and Ismira have been rallying people together. We're gathering them under the banner of the Varden from two centuries ago. It seems everyone remembers what we stood for."

"That doesn't tell us what happened Murtagh." Eragon spoke sternly to his brother. Miridia could tell that Eragon was worrying.

"The dark riders have an army Eragon. It seems that Ra'zac aren't as picky about partnering as the dragons are." Murtagh got seven piercing glares from the dragons. "It's the truth." He shrugged as he continued. "We tried fighting them, but the Shadebound are immune to having their magic stripped by the true name."

"You're lying." Eragon spat out quickly. "It's the name of magic and the ancient language. How can they be immune?"

"Their magic doesn't come from the ancient language!" Murtagh shouted. "It's twisted and corrupt. It's as if they just channel the energy of the words and it works for them. They never speak but they cause incredible deeds."

"So now what do we do?" Miridia interrupted the conversation.

"WE," Eragon gestured to himself, Murtagh and Arya. "Our going to return to Alagaesia to stop the dark riders." Eragon finally looked at the companions. "All of YOU, are going to stay here. You're not ready for enemies like this."

"But you've been training us to help for times like these!" Horth exclaimed. He and Ralsha, his earth brown dragon, were already excited for an adventure.

"I can understand leaving the other three behind, but why must I stay here as well?" Sahlin seemed a bit indignant about having to stay as well.

"You all aren't ready." Eragon spoke harshly. "Ulruc, your magic usage is mediocre at best. I hate to discourage you, but your current ability makes you more of a liability than help. Horth, you can fight for an hour at most before your illness forces you to stop. Sahlin, you have no ability to fight in close quarters."

"And Miridia is too stubborn and narrow minded to see beyond what's in front of her." Arya finished it off. "The point is you're all not ready for this. We're trying to look out for you. You are the future of our world. We can't risk you all dying because of an unknown threat."

"Besides," Murtagh turned to the group. "Who will watch over the eldunari and the eggs?"

"They're locked away in some hiding spot." All eyes turned to Eragon.

"Can't be too careful. Anyone can turn into another Galbatorix." Eragon finally sighed. "My pupils, you are all talented in your own way. And I wanted to wait to give you these until after I felt you were ready, but I'm going to give you these and the information on where we keep the eggs. So please stay behind and watch them." Eragon lead all of them across the sparring field and deep into the forest until they came to a clearing.

The clearing was large enough for all seven dragons to spread their wings and not touch. The ground was littered with leaves and giant slug trails. In the center was a single stone that stood as tall as Miridia. As Eragon strode up to the rock he spoke.

"Mor'amr" They felt a shift in the air and a grinding sound filled the clearing as they all sunk lower and lower into the ground. Arya and Murtagh didn't seem surprised while the four students looked on in wonder. The trip down took several minutes but felt incredibly quick to Miridia and the others.

The ground stopped sinking when they reached a massive cave that had certainly been carved out by magic. Along the walls the group saw the eldunari and all the eggs. It was a clever hiding spot that nobody would really pay much attention to. The four however stopped when they saw four large metal rocks sitting on pedestals.

"Eragon is that?"

"It is, Brightsteel." Eragon smirked as the four rushed over to them.

"You mean we get to make our weapons?"

"Yes. But this is to make sure that you can protect these treasures." Eragon gestured to the eggs and the eldunari. "Now, I already taught you how to make your weapons and the eldunari are here to teach you more. Consult with them if you need help. We don't know when we'll be back, but we will send word as often as possible." Eragon leapt onto Saphira's back.

"Time to go then." Arya and Murtagh followed suit and the three riders flew off into the sky.


	5. Horth

Horth

Miridia stood and watched as the boys grabbed their chunks of the brightsteel and ran off. She wondered how the boys could be so eager to make something that would travel with them for the rest of their lives. She wanted to think about her decision before making her weapon. She sat and thought for a while as the doorway above her closed and the magical fire filled up the room with light. She could see Sahlin speaking with some of the eldunari that were present when they got their dragons. Ulruc was carving out his design onto another stone for practice, but Horth was doing something different.

Horth was standing before a mirror that Eragon had used to teach them about scrying. He would rub his chin and then return to a table not far from the mirror, his lanky body seeming to just glide across the floor. Horth stood about five foot eleven and had a very pale complexion. They had many times joked that if he turned into a shade he'd actually gain some color. Thinking about that joke now made Miridia feel uneasy. She got to her feet and started walking over to him.

Horth ran his hands through his black hair before looking up at Miridia with his emerald green eyes. He smiled his carefree childish smile before speaking.

"Hey Miri."

"I'm not Miri." Miridia hated the nickname he gave her when they first met.

"I don't care how many times you say it, you'll always be Miri to me."

"Fine, whatever." She sighed. "What are you doing with that mirror?"

"Scrying."

"Scrying what?"

_His weapon._ Horth's dragon Ralsha spoke to Miridia in a refined manner.

"You know you don't have to be civil with me Ralsha." She turned to face the dragon and saw that she was holding the brightsteel in her claws. "Why is Ralsha holding your piece of brightsteel?"

"I asked her to while I scry up the image of what I want to make. I've almost gotten it down." Horth smiled as he finished writing something down on the paper and then returned to the mirror. "Draumr kópa." Miridia watched as a weapon appeared on the mirror. "I did it!" Horth threw up his hands before falling to his knees. Miridia ran over to him.

"How many times have you done this?" Miridia asked before looking at the image. It was a khopesh for certain. However, It was different in that the back of the sword was bladed as well and the blade came to spike out on the back curve causing it to look like a it was designed to grab hold of things and them pull them away. "Why does it look like that? And how did you describe something that doesn't exist?"

"But it does exist." Horth grinned. "Look on that paper." Miridia looked at the paper and on it was the rough sketch of the exact same khopesh on the mirror.

"You are an idiot."

"I wanted to see what it would look like before I made it. So I could really get a feel for it."

"But what's with the double blade and the spikes that make it look like it was designed to hook into things?"

"That's because it is." Horth took a deep breath and stood up. "You know my illness makes it hard for me to fight."

"Well yeah, your body is weird. For most of us, magic is just a part of us that's almost separate from our body. In your case it's bound to you and you end up destroying your body by using too much magic. We learned that when you first cast brisingr."

"Yeah, that was also the day that I first learned that a punch from an Urgal hurts." They both start to laugh. After they calm down Horth starts explaining again, "Seeing as how I can't fight as long or as well as any of you guys I decided I'd stick to my strategy of trickery."

"I still don't get why your khopesh looks like that."

"It's simple. It's used for tripping people and pulling shields away."

"Huh?" Miridia tilted her head.

"If I get the blade against someone's ankle I can pull their leg out from under them and trip them."

"Ok, that makes some sense. It's how you've learned to fight Ulruc. And if it isn't broken you don't feel like fixing it."

"Yup." Horth's innocent smile made Miridia just pat his head. "Miri!"

"I can't help it. You're the kid of the bunch and without Arya, I have to act like the doting older sister." Horth grumbled.

_He appreciates the sentiment._

"Don't tell her Ralsha!" Horth screamed before running over to his dragon. "Aaaaanyway, we're going to go forge my blade." Horth looked up at Ralsha. "And have a discussion about what personal privacy means." He pushed against his dragon and Miridia laughed before turning towards her piece of brightsteel near the center of the room.

"It isn't broken don't fix it, huh?" She sighed. Her fighting style wouldn't do. She'd fought Eragon with her style and lost, a lot. And besides, it wasn't anything like Arya's. She decided to go check out what Sahlin was doing to try and focus her thoughts.


End file.
